Breadcrumb

Export Permits and Export Controls

Export Controls Handbook

The Export Controls Handbook is designed to be the main reference tool to assist exporters with questions about the administration of Canada's export controls which are administered pursuant to the Export Control List, the Area Control List and the Automatic Firearms Country Control List under the authority of the Export and Import Permits Act.

Information contained in this Handbook includes: how to obtain the necessary permits for the export or transfer of controlled items and how to comply with the requirements of the Export and Import Permits Act and its related regulations.

The Export Controls Handbook does not address requirements for the export of logs.

Some of the information in the Export Controls Handbook was previously included in the Introduction section in A Guide to Canada's Export Controls – June 2010. The Introduction to the Guide has been replaced by the Handbook. The Export Control List has not been changed. The current version of the Export Control List is found in “A Guide to Canada's Export Controls – December 2013”.

How to Use A Guide To Canada's Export Controls (Including the Export Control List)

Destination and Origin Considerations

Export Permit Application Process

Administrative procedures and other issues

After Issuance of an Export Permit: Compliance with Export Controls

Customs Procedures (Canada Border Services Agency)

Applications to Export Firearms, Related Goods, and Ammunition

Import-Related Documents

Further Information and Reference

Statistics relating to the export of military goods and technology, including conventional arms and ammunition, can be found in the "Report on Exports of Military Goods from Canada" published by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. These statistics are based on the export of military goods and technology as identified in the Munitions List (Group 2) of Canada’s Export Control List, which reflect commitments made in the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies and commitments made in the Organization of American States, as well as certain additional unilateral controls implemented by Canada. Canada’s export control regime, including the Export Control List, is established and administered under the authority of Canada's Export and Import Permits Act.

Other statistics regarding the export of arms and ammunitions can be found on other government sites such as Industry Canada's "Trade Data On-Line" and Statistic Canada’s “Canadian Industrial Merchandise Trade Database”. This data is compiled based on categories of items negotiated at the World Customs Organization for the purpose of applying global customs tariff codes. The "Arms and Ammunitions" category of items negotiated via the World Customs Organization does not, in many cases, reflect what many countries would consider conventional arms and ammunition. (For example, goods such as flare guns used in oil and gas drilling, ammunition to frighten birds at airports, etc. may be listed under the “Arms and Ammunition” coding). The Canadian Commercial Corporation also generates their own export data based on contracts between Canadian suppliers and military end-users. Again, these statistics may include items which are not strictly military in nature, such as storage containers.

Export permits for cryptographic items

If your cryptographic products (including goods or technology containing cryptography) meet the criteria for control described in the Guide to Canada's Export Controls (Category 5 - Part 2 ("Information Security") of Group 1, the Dual-Use List), you should apply for an export permit for any destination other than the United States. There are a number of available types of export permits for these products.